Old-Fashioned Peppernuts (Pfeffernusse Cookies for Sharing)
Sneak Preview: These bite-sized peppernuts—also known as pfeffernusse—are spiced, crunchy, and wonderfully shareable. A festive holiday tradition that keeps for weeks and makes a perfect gift.
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These cookies once won a prize in the Star-Telegram Christmas cookie contest—though I can’t remember if it was first or second place. When our church needed cookies for holiday baskets, I pulled out this recipe. It was the perfect excuse to bake them, knowing I wouldn’t eat them all myself. They’re dangerously tempting… like a cookie that dares you to stop at one.
Peppernuts are simply the English name for pfeffernusse, a traditional German holiday cookie that’s crisp, spiced, and built for sharing.
Ingredients and Substitutions
BUTTER: Butter gives these cookies an irresistible crispy, crunchy texture, and a buttery taste. Since this recipe is probably a once-a-year treat, I would splurge and use nothing else.
SUGAR: Granulated sugar is best.
EGG: Use “large” eggs (approx. 50 g)
DARK SYRUP: You have several possibilities: dark corn syrup, molasses, or date syrup.
FLOUR: My first choice would be unbleached all-purpose flour. Bleached all-purpose flour is a close second.
SPICES: The spices are important in this recipe. Even more important–make sure your spices are FRESH.
ANISE FLAVORING: The anise is optional but characteristic of this cookie. I hope you can find it and use it.
How To Shape Peppernut Cookies
⬇️ Jump to the recipe below for exact amounts and detailed instructions.
Initially, I thought I would roll each little ball by hand. HA! There must be about a thousand per batch. People eat them by the handfuls, so trying to make them look perfect is wasted energy. We ended up rolling pencil-thin ropes and using a bench knife to chop them into nuggets. Transfer to a prepared baking sheet to bake “en masse.”
As it turns out, these cookies are entertaining for the grandkids to make. Perfection is not essential. They don’t need decorating. To top it all off, my grandson proclaimed the dough was delicious.
Sharing Our Cookies
As you can see in the pictures above, you will get all sizes. We decided to sort them into four piles: big, small, medium, and ugly (to be eaten by the family).
To package them, I put about 3/4 cup of cookies (same size) in each cellophane bag (available at craft stores) and tied each package with red yarn. The labels and yarn came from Amazon.
Old-Fashioned Peppernuts (Pfeffernusse Cookies for Sharing)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) butter (room temperature)
- 1-1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
- 1 large (50 g) egg
- 2 tablespoons dark syrup I used date syrup but dark corn syrup or molasses is also good
- 3-1/2 cup (420 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon anise flavoring
Instructions
- Cream the butter: Beat 1 cup (227 g) butter (room temperature) until light and fluffy. Add 1-1/2 cups (300 g) sugar and 1 large (50 g) egg; continue beating.
- Add the rest:2 tablespoons dark syrup, 3-1/2 cup (420 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon cloves, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon anise flavoring.
- Shape the dough: Pull off small pieces and roll into pencil-thin ropes. Slice into ¼–½ inch pieces with a knife or bench scraper.
- Bake the cookies: Place on parchment- or silicone-lined sheets. Bake at 350˚F (180˚C) for 7–9 minutes, or until the bottoms begin to brown.
Equipment
Nutrition
All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com
FAQ about Peppernut Cookies:
No. Some pfeffernusse recipes call for it, but we enjoy them plain and spiced. Suit yourself.
Yes. They stay fresh for up to 3 weeks in an airtight container.
Absolutely. Freeze baked cookies and thaw at room temperature before serving.Yes, Double-wrap to prevent freezer burn.
Final Thoughts
These little sweets may not wear red or green, but they still qualify as Christmas cookies in my book and they are shareable. They take some time to cut into tiny pieces, yet once you get into a rhythm, the trays fill faster and the effort feels almost festive. A little trouble, yes—but that’s part of what makes them special for the holidays.–Paula
Would You Like To See More Cookie Recipes?
Need help troubleshooting? Email me: Paula at saladinajar.com—photos welcome!
My Danish grandmother (Mormor) and mother made these every Christmas growing up. We would play a game with them, taking a small handful, you ask someone if you are holding an even or odd amount (we did this in Danish) and if the person guessed right, you shared your small handful, if they were wrong, you kept them. As kids it was a highlight of Christmas. Your recipe is so similar to my Grandmothers. Thanks for posting!
Hi Jill,
What a great tradition! I love it and may try it at our Christmas celebration. Thanks so much for sharing.
For some reason I don’t see the butter on the ingredients list, but I’ve made these every year for a while, so I know it’s been there in the past. Is it still there on your end?
Hi Amanda,
If you were standing here, I would give you a big hug for catching this. I updated this post over the summer, and somehow, the butter got deleted. I have corrected it. The recipe calls for 1 cup of butter.
@Paula, Haha…thanks so much! I’ll be making a couple batches this weekend! They’re so addicting! ?
Hi….I am making the Crunchy Gingerbread Bites and it seems like I have way too much dough for your directions. I am making the ropes larger than a pencil but smaller than a cigar. I cut the pieces in 1/2 cuts and I will have way more than your “33 yield”…..Or did you mean with 3 servings for the nutritional directions that it is a 99 bite yield? Thanks…
Hi Maggie,
My apologies for not getting back to you sooner. We had our family Christmas yesterday, so I didn’t have a chance to respond.
I can see how you got confused. Yes, the recipe makes approximately 100 little pieces but since there is no exact measuring going on, everybody will cut their cookies slightly differently so the number will vary. Only one little piece would be a small serving so I counted three.
I’m curious. How many pieces did you get in the end. Did you count them? Hope they were good.
I had a Lutheran women’s group (with Germanic ancestors) make these and I’ve been searching for a similar recipe ever since. This looks more like what they made than anything else I’ve seen online.
Quick question. Do you really use anise essential oil (food grade)? I read online that anise extract is 4X less potent, so 1/2 oil tsp= 2 tsp of extract. I’m assuming that 2 tsp would water down the dough. Have you ever made it with extract? Where do you get the anise oil? I’ve seen it in stores that sell essential oils, but never in the big box stores’ baking isles.
I checked my cabinet to see exactly what I used. It’s called “Natural Anise Flavor” from BOYAJIAN. http://www.boyajianinc.com/bakingAnise.html It is not oil. I will correct the recipe.
Thank you for writing to ask. Hope you get to make them and love them.
Thank you for letting me know which anise flavoring you use. I made these (with extract) and have to say- they are absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this winning recipe! I’ll definitely bring it out again next Christmas! Now to check out the rest of your site! Thank you again!!!
I’ve been looking for a good recipe for these and ran across your blog. My German grandmother, who came over to America on ‘the boat’, used to make pfeffernusse every year. The online recipes for, supposedly authentic, pfeffernusse are all over the map. Going to give these a try as they are said to be crunchy, as Grandma’s cookies were. By the way, her’s were quite small cookies, but when helping her, I remember forming ropes of cookie dough that were more like the diameter of maybe a cigar, than a pencil, and then slicing them up, I suppose the size is optional 😉
If you make these, I hope they turn out crunchy like your Grandmother’s cookies.
I finally made these today, and they are indeed crunchy! The recipe is a keeper. When I first mixed up the ingredients, the dough was a bit too crumbly for forming ropes, so I added another egg, and all was well. Thanks Paula, and Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you, too.
These look good, was trying to figure out wh
at to take to the office “do” next week.
Dumb question but when you say soda you mean baking soda right?
Yes. Baking soda.
i made these one time last year and loved them so i decided to make them again but this time my dough is very crumbly i cant get it to stay together so i can roll them. what did i do wrong this time and how can i fix it. please help.
Arlene,
Since I didn’t watch you make them last year or this year, I’m at a loss as to what you did wrong. Perhaps you measured wrong? or left something out? Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
My grandmother gave a similar recipe to my mother many many years ago. My mother has been making them for many years now, as long as I’ve been live I think(43) On thanksgiving we have a rolling party and they get done very quickly. It’s a great family fun time. And I charish it every year. Eating them slow so they will last most of the winter. They are delishious and crunchy. Love them!! By the way, they stay fresh a lot longer then three weeks, and still taste good. ;)?
Nicole,
I love the idea of a “rolling party”. What fun! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. My Grandma always made them and used a thimble to cut them out. Since they have anise, they were really never a favorite of mine, but I have great memories associated with them.
A thimble? What a great idea! paula
Regarding your Gingerbread Bites, do you use actual butter or crisco? Seems like when I make cookies like M&M or chocolate chip and use butter, they are too thin so I want to make sure that you are actually using butter. I want to make these right the first time! Thank you,
Geri
Thank you Paula. I love your blog!
Thanks Rhonda. Appreciate you stopping by.
Hello,
I am brand new to your blog and tried 2 bread recipes today using
my bread machine with great results!! I do have a question,
is instant yeast the same as bread machine yeast?
Rhonda, Yes, they are interchangeable in my recipes. pr
Mmmmm yum.
In Holland we eat millions of these at Saint Nicolas on the fifth of December (and in the months leading up to it).
Most of them are shop bought. Only the really lucky kids get home made ones likes these (and have fun helping their mums make them).
This was a family recipe and they are all kinds of yummy. They go great with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.
I made the recipe to a T, however, rolling the dough out was not a option as it kept crumbling. I had to form a “rope” with my fingers and then cut so they were more squarish. What did I do wrong? They did come out fantastic nontheless! What could I have added to soften it up without changing the final product? Thanks!
Sherry, I do not roll mine out either. Just squish the dough together with your hands and roll into pencil shapes with your fingers just like you did. I do not roll out cookie dough–any cookie dough, unless it’s inside a ziplock bag. Just not my thing. Glad they turned out tasty.
If going with the rolled pencil approach try putting the rolls in the freezer, (or out on the porch if you live in Canada as I do where the outdoors is one big freezer for 5 months of the year) prior to cutting them. It will help hold the shape of the little cookies and make them easier to handle.
Shelly, Great suggestion about putting the dough “pencils” in the freezer. Seems like it would be easier although it’s not too difficult without doing that.
I love reading the comment section before trying a recipe to make sure I don’t mess up and just because sometimes comments are entertaining! I’m in SW Ontario and from December until late February our porch is the fridge/freezer too!
Thank you for the recipe Paula! I like your name for the it, but I think I’ll stick with Pfeffernusse! I’m not German. It just makes me smile!
Merry Christmas!
My husband’s Mennonite family has made this traditional Christmas cookie for years and for the twenty years we’ve been married I’ve made them annually. Some times I’ve rolled the dough flat and used a tiny cutter I received at kitchen product party making little flower and stars. Recently I saw a recipe on-line that suggested your roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thick on a cookie sheet, score it in small squares and bake it, breaking apart the cookies once cool. I may try this method this year along with a batch of the traditional ones. I find the flavor reminiscent of chai tea. yummy!
Love this recipe! I signed up for a baked goods swap and still had not decided what to mail out. this will be perfect and still have some for the kids at home!
I just like to say Pfeffernusse…. must be the German in me.
These look great and I am MAKING them this weekend. I am running out of time before Christmas, and these fill the bill. I had such high hopes for doing some Holiday recipes on my blog…. ::sigh::
I can imagine how *tedious* these must be to make, rolling out each pencil strip of dough and then cutting it. The recipe does sound like it makes a lot of pencil strips!! Having said all that, all the effort would certainly be worth it as the quantities this makes is perfect for gift giving…lots of gift giving 🙂
They look delicious.
How fun Paula! These look wonderful – I love almost anything German and Pfeffernusse is not exception – oh, and I do speak German but I love your new name!
These really are adorable little cookies… almost look like they are made for dolls!!!!
Now I am curious about what recipe you submitted to the contest!
Hey Derinda, It was these cookies: Soft Cinnamon Cookies with Browned Butter Icing. Grandma Herd made them a LOT.
These look good, was trying to figure out wh
at to take to the office “do” next week.